Purpose: The purpose of this pilot study was to evaluate periodontal tissue repair after CO2 laser application in the treatment of severe periodontal defects.
Materials and Methods: Three patients, 2 men and 1 women, age range 37 to 55 years old, were selected for the study. All of the participants in the study were in good general health and presented with at least 1 tooth with a probing depth of 6 to 9 mm, clinical attachment level of 4 mm, and bleeding on probing. At baseline, all patients received full-mouth scaling and root planing, motivation, and oral hygiene instructions. Clinical assessment after cause-related therapy showed the need for additional periodontal treatment. The periodontal surgery procedures were performed with the adjunctive use of a CO2 laser in defocused pulsed mode at 2 W, with a frequency of 20 Hz and a duty cycle of 6%. The patients were reassessed 12 months after surgery.
Results: All the teeth that received periodontal surgery in conjunction with laser treatment showed significant improvement for all periodontal parameters examined.
Conclusion: CO2 laser treatment may induce predictable clinical improvements when used as an adjunct to conventional periodontal surgery. More extensive, long-term studies are needed to confirm this hypothesis and to better clarify the effect of laser treatment on periodontal wound healing.